TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Printing plants are rushing to produce more copies of “Taiwan Travelogue” after the novel won the International Booker Prize and sold out at many bookstores, CNA reported Tuesday.
Publisher Spring Hill Publishing first ordered 70,000 extra copies after the award was announced. It added another 30,000 copies on Monday, bringing the post-award print run to 100,000 copies.
The novel’s total print run has reached 140,000 copies since it was first published in 2020. The new copies are expected to start shipping on Thursday.
Lilong Printing Co. owner Ho Shu-chung (何書中) said the factory entered standby mode last week. He said the machines have barely stopped since orders began coming in.
Ho said the publisher first ordered 10,000 copies after the prize news broke. The order later rose to 30,000, then 70,000, before another 30,000 copies were added this week.
“The publishing and printing industry has not seen such demand for a long time,” Ho said. He said the book market has been weak in recent years, making the rush even more striking.
Ho said Lilong’s last major reprint was the 2024 Chinese translation of Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation,” translated by Chung Yu-chueh (鍾玉玨) and published by Net and Books, a Locus Publishing brand. However, he said that order was smaller than the one for “Taiwan Travelogue.”
Ho said Lilong also printed other books by author Yang Shuang-zi (楊双子), including “Blooming Season,” “No. 1, Siwei Street,” and “Girls, Be Ambitious.” He said those books were also reprinted and shipped last week.
